Book Review: Mirror Image

[Carolyn Marie]

This book, written in 1978 and apparently now out of print, was given to me as a gift. I was skeptical at first, given its age, but very pleasantly surprised.

The only parts of the book that are seriously out of date concerns Ms. Hunt's SRS. Given that she underweant 4 major operations, three of which were "routine," and spent a total of seven weeks in the hospital, things have gotten a whole lot better in the past 30 plus years. Thank God for that!

She tells her story in a very engaging, personal style that I found humorous, easily accessible, and touching. She covers areas that many of us have gone through, including her early efforts to fit into male society, her struggles to ignore her increasing unease, self-discovery, coming out, loss, and finding her new female sexuality.

The latter issue is very thought provoking, and I predict will lead to some interesting discussions with my G.T.

Used copies are available at Amazon.com, and you may be able to find it at your library, but I couldn't find a copy anywhere in the L.A. public library system, so good luck with that.

I strongly recommend adding it to your reading list. I liked it a lot (probably couldn't tell, could you? )

Carolyn Marie

[Guest Donna Jean]

I strongly recommend adding it to your reading list. I liked it a lot (probably couldn't tell, could you? )

Carolyn Marie

So, Carolyn....tell us what you really think of it!....lol

Sounds like a very good read in spite of it's date...

I'll look for it..

Thanks, Hon!

Donna Jean

[Guest ChloëC]

Carolyn,

I'm glad you enjoyed it. I also did - about 30 years ago. I'm from the Chicago area originally and a long time reader of the Chicago Tribune, so her job as an editor there was a little closer to home than most of what I read. If I remember correctly, (because there was absolutely no one in 1980 that I knew that I could talk to about it), her style changed slightly as she finished her story. A little more open, a little more humorous, maybe a little, um, 'coy'? I found that interesting in itself.

In the same era, I would also recommend Conundrum by Jan Morris, and if you can find it, the Canary Conn story (autobiography).

I've wondered where these trailblazers of sorts are today. Are they happy? I hope so.

Hugs

Chloë

[Guest ChloëC]

Oh, sorry, I'd also suggest Men in Love by Nancy Friday. She covers a lot of different lifestyles, including a chapter or two on tg, but seemed to have a little difficulty in separating out the various transgender subgroups.

While she certainly includes a number of different stories of transgendered males (cd, mtf, etc), because of the title of the book, she tended to concentrate on fairly suggestive sexual escapades, which for the casual reader may have done more harm in re-inforcing the popular media's portrayal of transgendered people as verging on - that bad ol' word - deviants.

Hugs

Chloë